.S96 
CopV 



miiUm AMD Mi.fAL aTUATlON. 



■*«fS» KtS 



nj' 



AcmiwnmM^'m 



••if 0«PR 



...J'^„^.J..^ 






h lUJv 



W A S H I JSr G T O H J 
1604, 

ilono^ap% 



xr 






6 16 n 

c06 



THE MIUTAKY AND NAVAL SITDATiOl^, AKD 
THE GLORIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR SOL 
DIER8 AND SAILORS. 



L 

TEJK a^UKSB AND CONDUCT OF THB WAK 

A «rise maxim of the greatest general of anility prescribes timt w« 
^ould esteem nothing doae rill "1! is done; but it is prc4>abl<; tiiat ife 
m^mil is rather to point ont tJie da.jger of that indoJent dwe]Ji»g on the 
-ieeds of the page which shuts out pf new tlie duties and deniKBds ©; 
ahe prese.f^l, thsji to diti<».oarage (especially whess a, gi'e»t task is l&U 
apo& a iialion;M«cl» » retrospect of what has already beeu acco» 
{jlishfid as will inspire co«rage for e^srryiug it ihrongh to the end. 

The C4JuutiT has lately passed through that trying experifijic^ whicfc 
aibtO'Y .?hows is enre to come npoR a people plunged into a great wax. 
,1 peritjd vfhen the grat popn'a- »^;nthusiaMn hitvJDg died onti the boi^ 
*ieng flcd the be'eavemeutsof the war are brought keenly home to all 
and a reaction of general despr.ijds-ney resaltC In this mood of ibe 
public mind men forget that whiie they have euSered the memv also 
has snffered in an equal or even gjef.ter degree, and that too, perbap&, 
without the same ability to sustain his losses; they foiget while dwell- 
jsg on their own defeats, that «very victc-ry th^-y have won has beec 
an equally eore defeat to the enemy. When this time c-mes ihei 
comes ihe tf st of tlte mettle o- a p-ople. If weak they sink under it -. 
but 'he gre.t-minded rise up stronger for the ordeal. 

The feeling *>f depression which but lately prevailed regarding the 
seemingly indefiuite prolongation of the war, and which is still felt by 
some, is a singular je{)etit.ion of an experience which has freqnenth 
been felt by other natiuns conducting a long war. It has of en hap 
pened thai men ott the v^^y tve of the conclusion of a war havf 
lo-ked upon it as promising' the longest dnratioa ; and it will be in 
Ibe memory of many that just previous to the termination of the Gri 
mean war, even as sHgacioua at. obsciver as Mr. Cobden had just COB- 
•indeii provinj/ \n a p mphlet that it was certain to be pro'onged for 
many years. It thus frequently happen* that war, which in its prao^ 
tica! exfecotion deal« so laigely iis deception, is itself the greatest of 
deceptions. When after years, perhaps, of stiife, grewt anni^s rtill eon- 
iroDt each otber, it is hard t<. penetrate its outlet or i*.Hue; but some 
?uddeu turn of' affaiis precipitatts the catasUophe long prc|)«ring and 
in the flames of k Wattrioo, a Canna, or a Pultowa, Ja'^ \(6 and sva- 
lemfa seemingly firm-footed and impeiishable <»r ,. , ^^ aa^Je^ and 
aoLhingneaa. 

At the outt)reak of the rebellion the toblic mind became p'^'^esaed 

rith illusive anticipations that th war would be % sJ-oit one >ij«t 

ovif vicwjr.oua (joiumi^ sweeping the rebels belorf them in t.*v .jn 



unphanr. path woaid. m a lev moatiiv at mosc, end by precipitating 
Jihem into the Gulf of Mexico. This was a grent delusion no doabt ; 
htat it was not more so than that othwr Beotiment which has arisee 
m the natural reaction after the rude aho(;k this hope received — the 
error ?» to the indefinite prolongation of the war. The one fallacy is 
as pernicioae as the othnr ; for if the first was a great bar bo the effi 
oient execution of the duty of patting down the rebellion (and there ie 
no doubt that our illusions aa to the ease and speediness with which 
i^Jhe work would be accomplished was a serious hindei ance to the veiy 
preparations needed to make it short,) the other is an error equally 
fata! ; for the paralysis of ej/'ort produced by the sentiment of the 
probable longness of the wwr is sure to make it much longer than H 
vHyuM othervfise he. There is no higher dnty, therefore, thnn for patri 
otic mtin to fortify themselvee aad others by the consideration of aD 
the -elements of hope and oonfidence which a retrosp-^t of past prog 
fsss and a survey of the preheat situation inspire. 

Snch a survey justifies the conclusion that the end of the war — tht 
ernshing of the armed forces of the rebellion — is not only not far off; 
but th^t it is near at h&nd, and that is in our power to bring it aboni 
Imost st a blow. 

It will show tha outlines of a war continental in its proportiona, 
*aged on a theatre eqnal to the siae of all Eurojie. 

It will show armies the greatest the world eves saw, raised and 
jufitained by fche spontaneous patriotism of a firee people. 

It will show how, by the progress of our arms, the area of the 
rebelUoi) has, step by step, ^^en diioru of three-fourths of its propor- 
tidBs. 

It will show the insurgent territoiy cut off fi-om communication 
with the outside world by a blockade which dwarfe any on record 
and at the same time the most perfect of any on record. 

It will show how every stronghold on tlie coast hjw either beet 
'.captured or is now closely invested. 

It will shovs' ohe interior of this territ/ory out up by our great lina 
of conquest, ji^eeied latteraily and longitudinally, and the dominion 
of the confederacy left a kingdom o( shreds and patches. 

It will show a sucoofcsioij of battles of colossal magnitude, in tbre* 
fffUrthii of whiv>h the Uuioia arms have triamphed, and ail of which, 
Trhether vicsorief- or reverses, in a purely military point of view, havt 
redottuded to the advance of the gi'eafc cause. 

It will show the manhood of a {»opulation defending fi-ee instita 
dons, vindicating itself against ye irs of the gibes and insolence born of 
the plantation. 

It wdl show the fighting papulation of the insurgent States reduced^ 
hy battle, by disease, and by captures, front three fourths of a million to 
between a hundred and a hundred and fifty thousand men. 

It will show this force — the forlarn hope of the rebellion — separated 
by an interval of a thousand miles, divided into two armies, the one 
of which driven from Chattanooga to Atlanta, has at length boen 
eompelled to give up that point, the material capital of the confederate, 
Tvhile the other is shut up in Riohmond, the politieal capital of the 
fyOnfederacy. 

It. will show that the annihilation of both hese armies is a mathe- 
matical oertaioty, if we pot forth the strength at onr command. 



It wili reyeal, finally, h» the result of sll this, the radiaat fig'QSt. at 
Pback hovering not afer off, and plainly visible throngh the cload of 
war that still overspreads the land. 

If this be the magnificent result wbieh we have to show for the 
three years of war for the Union, it will give the people of the loya^" 
States a crittrion of action in the great issue now before the country— 
an issue that will determine whether by the maintenance of the Ad- 
ministration nnder which the wa» has beeis condacted to these results, 
and which can alone carry it through, we nre willing to crown an<J 
instify all that has been done by a Peace thf>t will vindicate and esta 
blish forever the unity and integrity of the nation ; or whether we 
shall surrender our destinies into the bauds* of a party Ciommitted to 
H peace which makes the war for the Union a mockery — » party whose 
areed throws to the winds all that has been achieved by the toil and 
blood, the faiih and the self-sacrifice of this nation, in the moat terrible 
war iT> the world's hii^tory, whose creed casts disgrace on every soldier 
«ndf»r the sod, makes the heroic bones that on a hundred battle fields 
'SBder the cotjtinent sacred the monuments ol folly, whi<^^h makes 
$yery sailor that hag gone down at his guns for the love of the ©id 
iag a fool, ac'd every Hian who wears the insignia of a glorious 
??«und a poor sisrapletOB ; a creed, finally, the ;,elu8ive pescje resul*^- 
big frona which oan obIv be the beginning of unending war. 

n. 

TBI TASK LAID UPON THE ADMINISTRATION BY THl 

WAR. 

When overt wnr, begun by tbe firing un Fort Suniter m Appl, 
1861, and brought to a he.nd in tfce bhttle of Bail Run ia the July 
following, had fairly in.'sngurateiri the rebellion against the constituted 
iuthorities of the United St«tfs, the Administration found itaeif eom 
fiiitted to a struggle eontiRei*^-{ in its proportions. The task imposed 
ftpou it, as described in PresicList Liin^oln'a inaugural, was to *'■ repos 
sess the forts, places and properi^ which h<fd hen seized from th? 
Uni(mr But to do this it v»a«, oetded that the embodied power of tJie 
#overnment should sweep firmed rebi8t>.>ice from fehe whole territory 
(.jf Uie insurgent St-ates. It is the nf»ture cf war like that of 2. eonfls 
gration to involve and swallow up everything within its reach. Th;- 
Southern heart " fired " by a few powerfai leaders, plunged into the 
?yar with a recklessness akin to madnees, and fsrom the Ohio to the 
^1^ from the Potomac to the Meiican border was all aglow witfc 
red- hot rebellion. The Government acc8pt<d the task put upon it, fo? 
■jie people willed it, and it whs the people's war. Cocacious of ife 
strength, arousing itself as a giayt insm. siumbar, tfce nation ftccepted 
ijie gage of war for th« Union, 

There are, however, certain considerations which, little thought ol 
'A the time, entered so deeply into the militaty problem cien pre- 
ssnted, have so influenced the course erf 7?ar aod count for so much iu 
a proper estimate of what has been accomplished as to demand im- 
mediate statement here. The'p^ all go to show that the task of quel- 
iHQg the rebellion was much more difficult than was conceived »t the 
Hinae or than ia commonly appr henrij-d evert aow. 

It M commrn iallfity irf efctimHtiug tie ?,jiiOunit of foice the Go?- 



> 



y 



6 

«mm«flt ooald bt iog lo bear on the rt<vo4ted States to state it merelv 
in the ratio of the popnlation of the two seccious — twenty millionfi 
in the loyal States against eight iu the rtTolting States. Bat it is 

Kropor U- consider that the rebels had withia theiuscives a slave pcipu- 
ktion of over foar miilions, and that this population was able to cap- 
cj on all tbeir simple industries, which it requiretl more than double 
that number to carty vu the much mo-e complicated in^iustriea of 
aorthern civiliaatioo. It is thus apfmrcnt that the wLoie righting whiti 
population of the South was mailable for service iu the fieid, while 
aea^ ly half of our own population was neceaaarily neutralized iu \he 
way jusi meotiomd. It is not wondevful, therefore, that the rebel 
leaders ivere able to put into the field, .at the very start, aimies nearly 
equal ti> our owu, though oup own levies were uapa»Hli«le<^l in history. 

To this mubi be adJed the astonishing ftscendancy whuh a smatt 
minority ol leading men had requijed over the southern population, 
and by whii-h, when they had once usurped powoi', they were able to 
wield an Hb'<ioIut«^ly desponio control over alTttie iu.%ouJces of men and 
oaaterlal in the South. These men, in faot, had laug been preparing 
for this war, as many of them publicly confessed after the maugura- 
don of the rdbeJIioM. " We have,** said Mi. Barnwell Rhett in & 
speech in the oonveaaon which took South Carolina cat of the 
ITnioQ, " we have beea enoraged in this w^r for moie than thirty year&. 
/i w no consequence of Lineolti's eiectiou or the failure to execute th( 
fti^fitive slam luw, but we have been enr/aged in this ^oar for more than 
thirty years'" It is a thread-b:ire story how Buchanan's infamoa' 
^eeretary had, for the las't twelve moniha of that administration, bent 
dl hia energies to ^uvnish forth the rebt^k with ail th./y needed for 
iheir premeditated treason , It is a matter of official record that by 
the robbery of forts and araenule, and by purchase from abroad. 
Flojrd had distributed at various convenient points throughout tht 
South 707,000 stands of arms ^ud 200,000 revolvers. Even befor* 
Mr. Lincoln's inauejuration iihere were thirty thousand men under armf. 
in tho South ; and two days afr,er thnt inauguration the Confederate 
Oongress passed a bi-ll to raise an anny of a hundred thousand men 
And thip, bear iu mind, was at a tinae whec the United States Govern- 
aient had not nrnW.r its control «ii or^fanjatd force of five thousand! 
men. 

To «uh)«nce the difficulty of the task imposed on the adminis 
taration, the theory of the war into which it w.>te diiven by the very 
nature of tliec-ontest was that of ihe ojf«n<^ve. Now military history 
IB replete with iliusnations of the wnorraous advantage which a peo- 
ple has when i&bie to g'and at bay (covering its owci comamnicatioat 
wd holding interior lines) and await in ciiosen positions the aitaokt 
!>f the enemy. 

The earewr of Fr<?deitck the (rreav affords an emiaeat example o/ 
» small nation, never able c© raise aa army of over a hundred thou- 
eand men, conducting a dereniiive war, (with offensive returns,) and 
auocessful'y resisting for seven yenrw the attempts of a collision of five 
of the leading Powers of Europe. But offt naive operations a^aintrt a 
peopio holding such def^msive attitude becomes ten fold more d ffi<-ull 
whon the war becomes what is CJilltd a ' ttarioual war," the nature »f 
which is ihua d p'ctel by the gieatest modern writer on the tbeoiy of 
war, ''wpi^tH^ I'^f:* ioi : 



^ad r^ndfit tho raUeioa of the gaaeral coBduotiBg them vdi'y ftrduoas. The is£ 
rader has only an army ; his adversaries have aa aroay ^od a peofrfe whoEj 
j^r almost wholly ia arms, and making meaBs ef resistaoe^ otit of everytkiag, 
iiaeh individual eoniipires agaiast the eemmoM enemy — eve» the Doa-eointMitaTite 
kave an interest in his ruio, and aveelerate it by every meafts in their po-vre?:, 
Saeh armed inhabitant kno'wa the mnallest pathd and oonnectieBS— he £it<fii> 
OYery where a relative or friend who aids hin! ; the eoinmanders aleo know tbit 
smmtry, and learoiog immediately the olishtest <n«veme![it &B the pftri «>f th« 
'>avader ean adopt the be^ meaaures to de^t hi» projeeta" 

These embarrassments^ enormooslj iacreased by thi/ prodigi0ub es- 
tmit of the theatre of war, the topography of which u ail agsinst ih.^ 
«t£fensive and in f.avor of the dt^fensiTe (as witness the immaase dept^ 
(li the lines of oommunicatioaan any great ao^greastir® movem&Bt&> 
!Jie imposaibilitj of supplying oar armieii from the ceaatry %s is dcfi$ 
m Snrope, ete.J entered into the portentous problemwhiob. the ^dmi^' 
istration had to solve; tmd jet, in face of this aceamulation of dii£<'«j< 
iee, forming a task tb« gravest that ^ver met an Exeeative, tlie vi-'S 
'oas been pushed snecessfiilly Uirougk to ike splendid results we witiids« 
— tkd armies of the rebailion have been drivea from the vast ezt@£.t 
'f territory th^s rebels eiaimed tit! now tke one is shut, up iu tike Btatas 
i»ordenQg on the OtuM, ^nd tha other h b«gie$^ witJuNxt kop« oJ' »s^- 
'tape to J^cknaond. 

I'ffiS UPEISmo OF THB NATIOK. 

'^Pkh reiaponse of the people to the eall of PresidSiEit iii&eeln % 
aen wiih which to exeeate the aulkority of the Government wE 
liways remiin one of the grandest manifestations of the apontaneoaji 
aaergy of a free people in tJae vindication of free miri-itutions. It waa 
iken we saw that suWime " aprising" of tke people, when all party di^ 
ferenuies were merged in enthusiasuc devotioa to the Union-— or ratk& 
vken armed loyalty cowed and quelled secret traitors who, driven tc 
(skeir lurking places, saw tke pradence of awaiting some otker oppoif 
«unity to ahow their kands. 

Arter Ball Run had shown that aa arduous aad protracted war "Sfm 
wefore us, Mr. Lincoln issued his procinmation for 300,000 men. Tke 
!«sponse of the North to the call was without * parallel in the kistorj 
oi the world, and it w^ soon evident that more troops would be W 
ske ueld than the act of Congiess authorized. Within fifteen days it is 
istamated that 350,000 volunteers offered themselves in defense of om 
aa&ioQai flag. Aud from first to last, under the different calls, more tkaa 
« MILLION AND A HALF of men have been under arms ia tke war 
for the Union. There is in history but one example of a similar aprl»- 
Ing of tke people in defense of ita nationality, and tkat is ike niakiB|; 
to arms of tke Frenck during the great revolution when threatened by 
tke coalition. And yet the comparison only serves to show kow ^ 
even tkat fell skoit of what we have w taessed ; tor rtiodero kistorlAtts 
iiave proved that, laotwithstauding all the exaggerations in regard to 
bke number of men raised by France at that epoch, the figora never 
i^ceeded 500,000 men. Yet we kave trebled that number. 

Tke task now before the (jrovernment was kerenleaii, and guck e» 
rmgkt have mado even Na|>ol<eoD ittand aghast To r»jse and fit to? 



8 

ike fi«ld an amy oi six baudred tko««>iiid loea, to be supplied wk^i. 
aU the Deeds ot a modera army, and that too without even the ekd 
g^n of a Teteran force on which to build, was indeed a work •&, 
frightful SQ^nitode. And yet this was accomplished in the space o!' 
three months — an achievement that ha? extorted the wondet aiMi m- 
anratioB of military BaeB ti[UX>ughoat th« world. 

IT. 

THE FIB8T YEAB OF THE WA&. 

As (he chief force of the rebellion — the head and from oi tion. 
offeading — was collected in Virginia, it became a necessity to piM« 
h«re an army of proportions fitting it to foil the pnr{>ose of the eneamj 
touching the capture of our capital, at the same time to drive tSx-<: 
opposing force out of Virginia. 

With this view a grand ai my of over 200,000 men was collected M 
Washington and placed undes command of Major General G. B% Mo- 
{Jlellan, whose name, from a series of successful minor operations ii 
Western Virginia, which another than he had planned and execated, 
iiiid scqaired a halo ihat did not properly belong to iU It was Koi 
antil sometime afterwards that that constitutional inactivity, whitik 
:>eems to be a part of Gent ral McClellan'e nature, and that secret sjbi. 
pathy with treason that bae alwsye made him tender of hurting trtw: 
ton, began to be appieciated, and hence it was that for many moathe 
oui' avmicB were kept at a dead-iock, thus giving the rebels the oppof 
'.unity to prepare their plans, and tlie rebellion its best ally, time, ani^ 
we put in a position of humiliation before the world. 

Tbere was one result springing from the presence of our army m 
Virginia, however, which even the generalship of McClellan could nw 
prevent ; it thwarted the realization of those dreams of invasion thai 
Qad fired the sonthem imagin- tion. A powerful party of red-hot bei- 
'igerents had made the carrying of the war into northern soil their xai 
fjing cry, Wastiington was in particular the object of their ckosi 
desires, and their direst hmte. The rebel Secretary of War boasted ad 
Mon^omery, op the 12 th of April, that "the flag which now flaofit^ 
the breexe here will float over the dome of the old Capitol at Waafe 
tngton before the Ist of July." 

After Bull Run the same ambition fired these men. S^d the Ric^' 
(Qosd Examiner : ^ From the mountain tops and valleys to the shorot 
of the sea there is one wild shout of firce resolve to capture Washing- 
ton city at all and every humaxi effort." But this ** wild shoat o-' 
Seree resolve" was vain against tfce 200,000 bayonets preseiit to defen«i 
the capital ; and though the early history of our army in Virginia ww 
■»ot of the character the people justly expected and tie army eagerl} 
desired, it was at lea^t something, in view of these desperate proje«i». 
of the rebel*, that Washington, by its presence, was rendered w/«. 

But outside of the immediate influence of the McClellan 8tr&teg;y. 
a series of operations in the western theatre of war had been inai^> 
rated, which laid the foundation of the splendid victoiicB of the XJuhm 
arms in that quarter. While McClellan during the winter of 1861—2, 
hc?!^ hii» magnifioent a^-mr f twc hundred thousand meii in inactiob, 
»j»te--*T»ff piwTis whi(>> wr-. T- 1 wi tnred. th^r eiiriy n«ge« of the hi*?' 



lory of the war were lit up by h sa^cession of brilliant victones on the 
Atlantic seaboard and weat of the Mississippi river. Chrstmap of 1801 
saw the powerful force of rebels, whirb had overrun Missoari, inso- 
lently proclaiming their purpose of seising St. Louis, driven down 
to the Arkansas border. G^teneral Grant had begun on a small scale 
Ae operatioua on the Mississippi, dei^tined to swell into campaigns of 
colossal proportions. The first oi our series of coast victories had been 
gained at Hatteras inlet, (August 27,) giving us twn forts, thiily-his 
gUDA, six hundred and nineteen prisoners, and the key to Albemarle 
sound. This was followed up, at the end of October, by Dupont'a 
exploit at Port Koyal, one of the most naemorablo triumt ha ok record 
of ships over forts. The spoils of this victory included not ie&' thaic 
fifty cannon. 

V. 
THE SECOND YEAR OP THE WAR. 

The opening of the second year of the w»r was gildet? by two othei 
/ictoriesoB the coaat — the capture of Roanoke Island by a combiB6<L 
attack of our land and naval forces, giving us six forts, 2,500 prisoQ 
airs and 42 guns, followed up promptly by the capture of Newbers 
which added six other forts and 34 heavy guns. These conquests re- 
stored the sovereignty of ;e flag over all the inland waters of Norti 
Carolina, which, up to os time, had been the main resort of th<; 
whole crew of blockade runners. Another brilliant point in thi 
(jhain of cofist victories was added by the reduction and capitulatiosi 
of Fort Pulaski following. With the fort were surrendered 41 gum 
««ad 860 prisoners. This gave ue the control of the mouth of tht 
Savannah river. 

Turning to the great theatre of war oetween the Alleghanies ami 
the Mississippi, the spring of 1862 saw there the inaugur?xtion of st 
combination of magnificent operations by several distinct columm 
draw^n out from the Ohio to the mouth of the Missiseir^pi and dratin6< 
So carry theiv conquests into the very heart of the coiuteder>*cy and re 
claim the valley of the Mississippi to the fioveignty of tlie Union. 

The rebel line of defense on this frontier extended from Columbus,. 
a powerfully intrenched camp on the Mississippi, eastward to the Aile 
^hany mountains. About midway was Boiling Green, another es- 
srsnched camp, where Albert Sidney Johnson commanded iu person, 
iast towards themountains was Zollicofi'er with a large force, whert 
t^arly in the winter he had taken up a kutified position on the duo 
b-^Tland river near Mill Spring. 

Against this line defense Grant and the gunboats under Foote wer<e 
jMreparing to move on the west; Buell was advaucing on Bowling 
Green in the centre, while Thomas was in motion on the east near the 
aaotintains. Thomas stnick the first blow and gave the country th* 
firstlings of victory in the west. O^a the 19th of January he engagec; 
the rebefe ai Mill Spring defeated and Toutei- them with the iosr of 
theii' artillery, their intrenched position, and their generai, Zollicoffes. 
killed- The effect of this victory waa to expos© the whole rebel righ4 
flank by way of East Tennessee. 

On the left Q^v.k Grant and Fcote were movrng to break thu tchd 
Enee of dfrex)^? by th« Ouroberland and TeuBessfe x vera, It wan 



10 

rjleariy ^i^«a -.hut .;<ra:-.: :,a^-':s*:\ iT^jDb i>e t'o^'Ofed. :be bjye«t, f«l>«i ^t oDg- 
JKokis at Coiambtts and Bowling Qreen would be ukeQ to reverse ano 
their ©TiKiwation made a matter of absolnte cofopnKsion. But thes* 
rivets wws barred by two -ifcrong works — Fori H^ary on the Tunneaee 
>iBd Fort [>oD.I«»on on the Cmebarlaud. The {b.-mer fel! 4 prey to tht 
g.^iS^Qtrj of Poote's n^vsj dttacic, sn/ieodering ob iJne 6th oi F*>bruary 
with its srmameut: of «ix'oy sfuuiii. 

A. watk aft^r the aur^eoder of Fort Hearj, Creneral Grant drew hit 
inea of iaT«»tmf qk ,tr!>ou<' For; Doaeisou, aad .-tfter a condici ruaoiRf 
'through tbtur d^y* aad wig-iti, aad reodtfred meroorable bf ih.e hardest 
^htiusf thjAt y«^ fK5CHi"-re« »n the war, tb« rnbela w«re forced te aeoede 
to (Jeaer ai Grant'is dem^ada for tnat ' uncooditioaai suneader '' which 
has become so insepfivaO'T associated wHb hid aaoie. The sorrend^f 
ai«(uded liftmen tbottaaod prisoners and forty piijcjes of artillery. 

The fafl of Fofta r>(>»dij80n and Henry ^-romptiy produced its as 
dcipai-d «Se<^t ".'oiuiabtis, wfeich the rebeJa k-io. njltzi (.he, "^ Ginralte.! 
!>f Aaierie ," was imnoedislwly abaadoBed. At the »aaie tioMi JuhruftOi 
i4vaL-.u*ted hm iutrenchAd ;)ositii:>n at Bowling Greea sad ialluBg back 
w Nashville, or rather tkroitgk Nnshville, (tor the opening of iti^ 
OuMberiaod to ouj gunboats which resulted «Voffli the fa'! of the fort 
<na4e Nashville ueliaQable ;) General Buell, whose ai my had beac 
dsreatcma^ the rebel tbrce at Bowling Opeen» ina mediately followed 
«p and took possesaion oi that city. Thus it wa* that by the magnifi- 
fjenfc aerioB of succeaBes rhat iliustratod the -aring of 1862, the rebel lie* 
OE :* stretch '>t' i>v0r 3ve iaundred miiee iv.-i pushed back from th^ 
Ohio to the Curaberlaud and the whole state of Kentucky and a third 
»f Tennessee were, recovered to the dominions of the Union. 

ftmuitaneoua with th- ^e operations the wat.'s o^ the Mifisissipiifi 
vere lit op by th« splendoia of Farragat's astoait^hing ct-oioat belov 
!^9W Orleans with 'lie foris, ^nbo^^.;'-*, steam rarad, floaiiag batteries. 
ftre rafts, obstmctioua, boom* and chains which the rt bnia had preparer 
k>t the defense or thsrf great metropoiia of the gulf, ending in thf 
:all of th;tt city, whoso captufe the London Times, doubcing, with its 
iitual cynicism its possibility, had declared would be *' putting th* 
toumequet on the fuain artery of the eonfedeiacy." 

After their retreat from Colurab»« the rebels under Polk took «p 
^ new position on the Mlusisaippi at Island No. Ton. This stronghold 
was able for maay weeks able to hold out against all the operations 
i^irected agninst it, tili fiua.!};j thv) gunboits run oh?, gnuntlet of th<!- 
butteries .Hud the stronghold with a. snndred heavy gnos teH into ou* 
Hands. From ihii poiist they foil baek to M«emph<j« onsy to be cose- 
oeUed i»a abandon thai) osty^hich ie iTuQe foliowiag «aBie nnder con 
arol of the Union forc^. 

After the retreat of the oeatfal army of the rebellion ivom Nashville. 
■•X took up a strongly fortified posirion at Coriuih, under Btvtoregard, 
There he was beseiged by the Union army mider nalieck, whoee sic^ 
operations, pu9ho«l on X4i i?»ch & p«jiiit hb to make the capkme of t£* 
«hoie force a matter of high pi'ol>abilitj, eotopoiled the ev.icuatior> 
•f this position al»). 

Thtf result of' tne viotores of 1882 was 'hns io lewve the situation 
(n this gratifying poiiition : Batier was at Nt«w Orleans, Curtis wai 
pnshiag his way to Little Rock, the c^tpital of Arkansas, the chief points 
■M) tlie coafl. was in our hnn^ls. HaUec-k wh.^ a( Corinth, th^ Unior 



11 

dag waved over M.^mphis and Nash^iiie, whiia Mucheill vo ^ykibams 
vas !Klvancing from victory to vieto/y, r 

This WHB gloiy eQ«JTi«:h Foi' one ye«r, for if we tana our tsye r.o th? 
Af 'tore of war in the East, we are presented with the spectacle of a 
uainpaign towards Ricbmood, in which the fiuest quaiit'es of heroisia 
tn the army, gaimitig victories whererer it met the armed en^my, and 
driving hira back to hia capital were neutralized nnd reodesed (ruitlesf 
ijy the imbecility of its \q'^, Turniu^ upon McCk-Uan, Lee termi- 
nated the offeusive Oi<inpaigB by hmst^f assuming the initiative, asd 
carrying his army foe the first time mto the tenitory of the loynf 
Btatee. The isaue wsis at length trif'd out at Autietem, where the ab 
leace of directiBg generalship ceuH sot prevent our soldiers frona 
ff3BBii]g a victosy of whieh their commaoder had aoi the capacity t<! 
Sake advantage, Neventheless, the iiist mv»<i<»n f>f die r^^hela eiu}*'^ 
4!tiH8trou!i!y by their retreat iuto Virgiaia. 

THE THIRD YllAE OF THE WAKr~THB BATTIJE SUMMBR. 

The first day of the ihird year of the war (1863) w«s nigualized by 
the b^ttlc of Stone Rivev or Murfreesboro, fought by Genera} Ro8<>- 
ro-aBs on the UoioR side and by Bragg on the part, of the rebels. Thf 
most desperate battle of the war up to that period, it inaugurated the 
year of great actions by asi engagement which resulted in placing our 
wmy in Murfrewiboro, with the prodigious loss to the enemy of 14^60 
men This was to be followed up from this base by a brilliant cam- 
paign in Tennessee, destined to culminate in the pospession of Chatta 
aooga, which bad K-ng bfct^n recognized by mUitHry bea/js ::ia the key 
:o the whole theatre of war in rna Wt«t. 

in the meanwhile General Grant wa«< dr-twiug bis lines of invest- 
aaer.t around the last great stroughold of the rebels on tne MissiR- 
lippi, at Vicksbuvg. A-ltwr many attempts agsinst this point, be 
BBally, by au audacious stroke of strategy, Uuparalleied save by Na- 
poleon's passage of the Splugen, crossed his army over the Missis- 
iippi at Grand Gul^ and, dlvidiag the army of Johnston from thr 
Qopsib lity of reiuforciug the gsirrison at Vicksborg, beat the rebels in 
aalf a dozen battles, and ended by throwing his aroiy -^s a besieging 
force around this position. The siege of Vicksburg will take its place 
hi history as among the mo^t wonderful engineering operations os 
(e«ord. Il was epowned by its unconditioaal surrender on the 4th of 
July, with 31, 720 prisoners and 234 guns. At the same time tht 
lawisou at Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks, thus adding 
T,000 prisoners and 40 pieces of artillery to the account. The efl'eei 
fjf these; *wo victories was to restore the national authority along tbf 
sirho'e va^v, •^t-h of the Mississippi, and that great continental high- 
wjiy was thr<- wxi open to its embouchure in the Gulf of Mexico. 

At the very t;ra« that the right wing of our immense line of battle, 
stretching from the Potomac lo the Mississippi, was thus engaged, its 
fefi wing, the array O t >e Potomac, was manoenveriag to meet Lee*s 
jecond JHvasion of th 'oyvd States. The i.bel ,rioy was broughl 
lo bay at length at Q^,. "^urg where a t^iiet. daj?8 oattlo, the most 
>;nl<v^RHj of th<* war was o wht ondinef in tb*» ntter Ac^(^%t of T^ea, who 



^ 



12 

was fain a.gain to make good his retreat into Virginia with & lo^ j* 
28,000 in killed nnd wounded and 6,000 prisoners. 

The centre of our g^eat line, held by General Rosecrans, mm ■< 
ihe 8>ime time on the advance. By a beautiful series of flankieg oao; '.tf- 
ments, tbf\t commander drove Bragg from his two povrerfully Jiai- 
trenched positions at Shelbyville and Tulahoma, and advancirjg iiou 
ihis point, planted his army, at one splendid stroke, in the ce-^'jaJ 
oitadel of the South — Chattanooga. 

On the coast, the operations were being pushed on with equal vigoi 
Glenera! Gill more had eflfected a landing on Morris Island, whence 
with his long range seige-guns, he was able to batter down Fort Sunt 
ier, leaving that memorable stronghold, wbose reduction by the rebeifi 
was the first overt act of the war, a mass of ruins. Assisted by the 
co-operation of the iron-clad fleet, the works on Morris Islauu — Forte 
Wae;ner and Gregg — were also reduced, and they with their armamen'll 
fell iijto our bands. The posseasion of Motris Isiiinu h'^s enabl<^d oui: 
fleet ever since to keep up a blockade of Charleston which heimeticaliy 
seals that place. 

Leaving out of view the single exception of that brief period dar- 
ing which the Napoleonic war involved all Europe in its conflagva 
aon, you will search all history in vain for a parallel of that greai 
battle summer, whether as respects the v&stness of the theatre of war, 
the proportions of the contending forces, or the substantial greatnesi 
cf the results. During a single period of thirty days embraced in 
this titanic epoch, not less than sixty thousand prisoners were captured 
The losses to the enemy in this respect, added to his prodigious saeii 
dtes in killed and wounded, left the CoufiuderHCy at the clo^e of thfe 
year bleeding, prostrate, and exhausted. 

vn. 

THE FOUKTH YEAR OF THE WAR. 

The opening of the fourth year of tJie war saw the forces of ttit 
rebellion driven from the whole circumference of the Confederacy, 
and brought to definite points in two armies — the army of BfiAse 
on the mouutaii'i ridges south of Chattanooga, and the ai my of Lbb 
on the Rapidan. The former assailed by General Grant in his moun- 
tain fastnesses, daw himself driven from his stronghold, and his amx^ 
broken and routed in the most disastrous defeat since Waterloo. He 
left in our hands 10,000 prisoners and 60 guns, suffered a loss Oi 
8,000 i)3 killed and wounded, and sought shelter for his shattered force 
by a disordered retreat to Dalton. 

This review brings the catalogue cf Union victories up to th« 
dme of the commencement of the great campaign ef this summer, 
the events of which are too fresh in the memory of all U:> require anj 
detailed recital. 

Dui ing the early days of May the two gr^nd armies of the IJnioB, 
undei the supreme control of the Lieutenant General commandhag 
all the armies of the United States. Ugan their advance — ihe oat 
from Chattanooga the otber fro ntl.e Rapidan. 

On rs Sherma . a er an «dvan'* froto Cbattftr<oog8, o «r a hiui 
dred mil^ , -a arked v a series of brilliant m:tnoeuvrea .; d actiora^, 



13 

IIL which the entany's force was driven from a feQccesaion of strciug 
kolds looked apon as impregnable, at iengh planted his army in frost 
%f Atlanta. Here he Wria thrice assailed byan enemy wiUmg to lavish 
iiverything in the desperate eflFos t to drive him back. 

The enemy thrice met a bloody repulse. Sherman now began work 
mg sjiowly bui: surely round on the rebel oommunicatiops, not with & 
Tiew to take Atlanta simply, bnt for the purpose of capturing the rebel 
^amy — a result from which Hood has on'y been saved by a precipitate 
tight from Atlanta — thus abandoning the foremost city of the South 
west, and the important communications it oommaads. In the en 
lagemont which resnlted in this brilliant succesb, the rebels lost two 
'thousand prisouers and very heavily in killyd and wounded. It may 
2^ow be safely sa'd tliyt, Hood's force, as an army^ no longer exists. 

Ik this great campaign General Sherman has put hws da comhat 
aver forty thousand men, that is, more fchan half the army opposed tc 
aim, besides affecting great captures in men and material. 

General Grant has planted his army before Petersburg and on the 
communications of Richmond, after a campaign of even greater magai- 
i«de, marked by the moat terrible and continuous fighting on record. 
During its progress he has gained a d<i«en victories, any one of which 
-#ould have sealed the fate of any European war. Its course has been 
marked by the constant use of those double instrument* of war — strat- 
egy and what Wellington called " hard pounding ;" by the ibrmet 
ke has driven the enemy, by bloodless victories on our part, from sis 
ehosen lines of defense; by the latter he has put out of the way be- 
tween fifty and sixty thousand of the fighting veterans of the South 
Ib addition he has taken over twenty-five thousand prisoners, and a 
prodigious unmber of guns. He is certain, era long, to crown his 
work by the capiure of the reb^l capital and the destruction of th« 
main rebel army. 

Finally, while the situation is as thus presented at the main poinfc- 
tf war, the progress of our arms by land and sea shows equal lustr-i 
wherever they meet the foe. It is but the other day that Admiral Far- 
regnt capped the climax of his great achievements by the capture of 
the fortjB guarding the entrance to Mobile bay, the destruction or 
capture of the enemy's powerful fleet in those waters — thus sweeping 
AW.&y, it ia beJieved, the last ve^'tige of rebel naval power on the coasl 
of the Atlantic and the Gulf. From the high seas, toc), the rebel nava' 
power has been swept It is but the other day that its most formid- 
able aBobodiment, the Alabama., was sent to the bottom by the Kear- 
sape, affording a significant lesson bo!h to the rebels and to the British 
allies who have furnished them with that and o!her proofs of their 
material sirpport. 

VIII. 

GROaNDS OP COURAGE AND OONFIDENCE. 

After such a retroi^ect of the glorious achievements^ of our amay 
and navy, have we not a right to ask, with some emphasis, of those 
who complain of the slow progress of the war, and f» ar its indefinite 
prolongation, what sub-^tantial ground they have for then repining ? li 
1^ true the ^jourso of the war haa not been an aninteircipt'ed Huoofjaaios 



14 

^'f yic^ories ; it, ha« preseuted the chec^af-red aspect of buccesses >inr. 
fW€i'8e« wbicb all wars present. But we ask any dispH»>ioBate obsa- 
fver, lo* king at the war by the map, and io ti:e fi ry characters in 
which it is writ a!! over the continent — contrasting the rebellion at th( 
atart with the n bellion where it now stands — surveying this great 
struggle for the Union in it« solid and substantial reauits — we a>k such 
in observer to point out in the annuls of war where more has been 
done in the spme }>eriod. He will find it hard to foint oat where 
AS much has l>een done I It is the c< iintnon practi<'e we kuow in war 
of popular Governments for men to belittle whnt has been done, to criti- 
cIbc and C( mplain ; but we ask in all seriousness is it the part of dignity 
or of patiiotisra, in this {risis of our nation's struggle, to depreciat* 
itn grand and provide ntial achievcmeijts ? 

There is to a people battling in ^r\y cause a force, purely metaphy- 
sical in its cbRracler, which is y<-t stronger than tife sinews of war — 
stronger than the sinews of men's arms. It is cmnrage. Never hat 
it been more L^eded than of late, when a lata! paralysis has benuml>- 
vid the public sense, and in the e«!ipse of faith, " the whole noise of 
tinaorous and flocking birds, with those that love the tviilight, flutter 
about, and in their eisvious gabble would prognosticate a year of sectr 
A\iiA schisms." 

I believe we have already touched t}>e nadir of our fears and our 
despondency, and that a breath of pauioiism and hope is now vivi^- 
ing the national pulse. But each man can swell the risiag t^ide. To 
oiffase the inspiration of fvr»urf*ge is the duty of every patriot. And 
h.'ippily we nt-ed draw this inspiration fiora no illusive iouuiains; for 
the more e; rnestly and honesitly we look at the situation, the more 
[grounds of hope we find. Some of these grounds oan be briefly set 
down : 

i. Tbe bf»dy of the rebellion is Booribund. Gt^n. T. Seymour, w'hose 
critical habit of thought and consei vaiive temper, add a prodigious 
H^eight to any declarations he makes on this bead, states as the resull 
of his three months' observation in the interior of the South, that "/Ae 
rebel c&u^e is fast failwg from exhaustion, ^^ This is profoundly true^ 
syhether it has regard to the material resources in the Souih, or to the 
atill more vital resonrcea in men, of which the fit Id is now rej'p d and 
(•are. Every man and every hf)y is now in the field ; there is nothing 
behind. In a private letter lately wiitlen by General Grant, he used 
the pungent expression that the rebels have "'robbed tlie cradle and. the 
(/rave to reinforce their ttrmte*." 

2. It ie true, in inflicting on the itbtis V e iium'^ns' damage they 
have received in the gie.-tt ca>i;paigua of Grnnt a«(] Stieimnn, we also 
have lost quit.*^ hs severely — p< rh pneveii Uiore 8»; but (if it ift lawftil to 
.^jeak thus of so grave a m;*ttet) we can njford it. We c^n stand to 
lose man for man, til) every maa in the armies of the rebellion if put 
/tPr.<( du combat^ and leave behind untouched a I'oice equal to all wf 
have lost in the war, 

3. But I do not believe it will be nef dful to wade through much an 
ooean of blood as this. All tb t, is needed ia a blow that will disrupt 
the two main rct»el armies. It is worthy of note, that the merciless 
conscriptions that have swept over the S^uth have even simplified the 
probleoB for u , The war has no longer those thousand-fold embar^ 
rasani-nts tV> t attend a 7MiftOf(«i war, or war on populations. Thuj^ it 



-■<■> pofmJation^ Our fast ^ <?oiifined m beatifig 'th« nvmim Bt Ricfe 
:aond afid A.UaiQtJi, For !:he 'est, the R«nst^<ira peupie Ar« tired <,iif tiw 
'7ar, and sre sighing for pence. 

4. Ih ft mi itfii y {)oin?, of v^ew, soefe t-^ Uj^ sitaation h&ld by 0«h 
.sfrant ar'd Gen, Sdei man, toward the iGeunj- v t fon;efi oppo^sed to tkem, 

:'».afc tiie « infori*e'a3<»Bt% th^y avo sen-^iriRo-, vU cerwtiuly ©cabl-e tfeftins 
tioon to cvrHiipiete tJi«k work. Oea. Seymoni on this. he?du s^ajrs :: 

'^'Riere ip but one course conaisi^Dl with safely or rfonor. Let fch« peo^^k 
ivi^ak* to a sense of their digmhy and Btrengtfc, and e /€■« xnoDthe of eoBip»,v& 
-iveiy trifling exertioL- — of eu«b effort as aJooe is worthy oi the great w»ik~ 
and the rebellioo wiU crumble befos-e ns. Fill this draft promptly aiwl willing 

7, with good and trwe nicr ; nei-^d s few spare tbonsflRdfi o^er rather tha» un 
det the eall, ai»«J slie s^nMneT ww. «>/' 1866 «o*tt «/*me nptm a rf.gen*;r«iied lamA^ 

5. The war is leftlly 'iCfT it* dose. The p^"es*>Bt troBt 'd the reM 
roc, men«Gmg tiiough it be, i« neeliy nothing more iJ^aR a sr.«sk, eon- 
-ealing the hoUown^st and rott*'>riess witbia The South is Hteffiilj' 
dxiiausied — exKaHsied ^ tbat wii,.ho«t ^hJch ii, is iaspoasibi* ta-earry 
•3)3 wsr— exkaastesi of men. Tfee field, i»- iIk iiT'praRsivp expressiom 
■it' Ni.poleoD regHiding J'mfice after her thref cc>nsc! ip' i««8, is reape« 
■lOwa !«• the stubble. Oi;t of an avail ablt fighting popnlatioo ^ 
i>pw-^rdp (^ three- qua* ters oi a Bailiion vri;h wlpch the war was ina«|^ 
tjratedj tihf y have saved as tflfe^tive force of ne hnudred or one bau 
ired and fifty ihousartd m('3i, Tb« rest are w iheir giave^, ia tht 
-vospitalfe, d sabled, or prisoaere ii. onr haijdfi Thf?s«:: are tii« forl®ii> 
.lope of the ixbeirion. 

6. Our ttriitor as ( oft^uerte hftve reciwBcied iixveu-foHrths of the aijea 
•/rigix»aiiy cbim«-d in tbf Simiis of the Cocfedftraxiy. Tb« CoQfi-deraoy 
staads wow thrice hiseo'ed— its grv-at iines (4 communicatiosa cat oi 
•.ji onr htUKk,, B< gid' *.j its .<eeourcesof »■! t.^^dr s^Tf a,)i hwt exhj<-«?t«d., 
The despei i8,tt- mj li hi iis h<*ad may «ODtm«jie the stmggip fur soaa* 
fcimfe k>n^« r^ — they ray ic '.' while oppose a formidable fiofot t« oot 
blows — but ihe rebe iion i? doomed. Its straggles will bf- tie fvs>»t1« 
fisal efforts of the gladiat^d b«ioi« he ftills fiown ejJbf.ofit^d and exara 
tmate •" 

7 The k'.'devs of thf. r« be'liiro have et!5<w<; to s>^'e any hope toi 
their cause ib the aicna of -war. They are looking now Ui the aremi <^ 
pontic*. A p«rty K»8 beer* s-et np vshoee crted and sime havf; jheif 
enti»e sympathy aoot roo>M sHjpo't The pktfcTtri of ih«t pa.ityha* 
aothing but pxptessi< nn of ronmroe'y <or t,h^ s^cjed w&r, {he ro«s;»l of 
which a»B been m.^de: lor JtC Davis and i i; cw^w it J^as nothing but 
espieseioE8 of sympfttfay and respect The ]«fople of the Koith hftvc 
BOW before thfUt i]>e moo<;Tit«ii8 (^nestior) ^ dei'rRMning by th^fe 
..ction wheth<-T they will justify all ihepreciuHfi bh>od shed w. this wm 
»j carrying it, triumpbfii.t*.y thiwigh ana crowning it wilfe a gloriow 
.^nd hoBorabh? pea^ e, orwiHi'bev by a base soiivndeT ihej wili pw>ject 
it into fcistor. as he mtman^tint i-f f> natioTi's folly 



LIbRftRY OF CONGRESS 



013 673 526 3 

PttESIOESTlAl CAMPftIGS OF ISM. 

ONION EXECUTIE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEl 



aoft. K. a MORGAN, of New York j Hob. E. R WASHBITRNE. of niinoii. 
'= JA3. HARLAN, of iowa. " B. B VAN VALKENBURG, N. T 

' L. M. MORRILL, of Maine - J. A. OARFIELD, of Ohio. 

{Senate.) ' I Q. BLAINE, of Maine. 

1 House of Representatives. 

4 if. MORGAN, OhaimKin. J&A. HARLAN, l^easurer. D. N. OOOLEY, /8«?> 



OoMMrrTEE Rooms, Washin^gton.^ D. C, Sept.., % 1864. 
Dbab Sir ; The Union Congressional Committee, in addition te 
the documents already published, propose to iBsue immediataly 
file following documents for distribution among the people. 

1. McOlellau's Military Career Reviewed and Exposed. 

2. George H. Pendletxju, his Disloyal Record and Antecedent®. 
%. The Chicago Copperhead Convention, the men who oompoeed 

and controlled it 

4. Base surrender of the Copperheads to the Rebels in armfi. 

5. The Military and NavaJ Situation, and the Glorious Achieve 

meuts of our Soldiere and Sailors. 

6. A Few Plain Words with the Private Soldier. 

7. What Lincoln's Administration has done, 

8. The History of McClellan's " Arbitrary Arrest " of the Mary 

land Legislature. 

9. Can the Country Pay the Expenses of the War i 

10. Doctrines of the Copperheads North identical with those of 
* the Rebels South. 

11. The Constitution Upheld and Maintained. 
13. Rebel Terms of Peace. 

13. Peace, to be Enduring, must be Conquered. 

14. A History of Cruelties and Atrocities of the Rebellion. 
16. Evidences of a Copperhead ConspirS'cy in the Northwest. 

The above documents will be printed in English and Germai. 
in eight or sixteen page pamphlets, aud sent, postage free, aooord 
sng to directions at the rate of one or two dollars per hundred 
copies. The plans and pui-poses of the Copperheads having been 
disclosed by the action of the Chicago Convention, they should 
al once be laid before the loyal people of the country. There is 
but two months between this and the election, and leagues, clubs, 
and individuals should loose no time in sending in their orders- 
Remittances should be made in Greenbacks or drafts on New 
York City, payable to the order of James Harlan. 

Address — Free. 

Hon. JAMES HARLAN, 

WfLshingUm^ D. G. 

V^ery respectfully, yours, &c., 

D. N. COOLEY, SeareUury. 

' ■ ■ . . « 

Prtjoted by L«ra^';' To-werg, for th« Urion Congit««oaal OoramitVe*. 



